Torres Double On Debut Rescues PSG Draw At Rennes

Rennes race into a two-goal lead

Franck Haise's side gave champions Paris Saint-Germain an uncomfortable opening 40 minutes at Roazhon Park. Sebastian Szymanski put Rennes ahead in the 9th minute with a first-time strike from outside the box after Adrien Thomasson worked the ball to him.

Esteban Lepaul doubled the lead in the 38th minute, finishing first-time from a pass cut back into the box by Przemyslaw Frankowski. PSG had a route back into the game in the 20th minute when Desire Doue turned the ball home, but the goal was chalked off for offside after a VAR review.

Torres brace levels it after the break

Ferran Torres, playing his first competitive match since joining from Barcelona for a fee close to €50 million, pulled PSG level with two goals after the hour mark, scoring in the 70th and 82nd minutes.

Luis Enrique's side had the better of the possession and territory for most of the second half without consistently threatening Brice Samba's goal until Torres' intervention, and PSG had to settle for a point on their first outing of the title defence.

Why PSG were the "home" side playing away

Ligue 1 had originally scheduled this fixture for the Parc des Princes as a PSG home match, but the club informed the LFP that the pitch had been damaged by this summer's run of heatwaves in the Paris region. An engineering assessment concluded the surface could not safely host the match, and the fixture was switched to Rennes' own stadium instead.

Squads reshaped by a busy summer

Both clubs arrived with reworked attacks. PSG sold Goncalo Ramos to AC Milan, Randal Kolo Muani to Juventus and Lee Kang-In to Atletico Madrid, bringing in Torres, winger Mika Godts from Ajax, midfielder Maghnes Akliouche from Monaco and full-back Lucas Digne from Aston Villa. Digne deputized at left-back with Nuno Mendes suspended following his red card in PSG's 1-0 Trophee des Champions defeat to Lens, a result that came a week after PSG had beaten Aston Villa 2-1 to win the UEFA Super Cup.

Rennes, who finished sixth last season and improved sharply after Haise took charge in February, were missing the suspended Mahdi Camara but still had last season's Ligue 1 top scorer, Esteban Lepaul, leading their line.